A few months ago, when trying to decide on my one word for the year (http://myoneword.org/) a friend of mine said, "Your word is OBEDIENCE." I didn't like that. I wanted my word to be JOY because it seemed happier, encouraging and could be accomplished much easier than obedience. What does this obedience even mean?! Over the past few months, I have come to learn that obedience literally is denying yourself (your expectations, plans, goals, etc), picking up your cross and following Jesus as He teaches us to do in Luke 9:23. This obedience has opened so many new doors and has given me a deep JOY in my life. (Joy.. Ironic, huh?). I am truly starting to believe the saying “blessings follow obedience.” When we do what God is calling us to do His mighty hand is on our lives and He blesses us with joy indescribable.
So, my point in talking about obedience is that I have some very exciting news..
I have switched routes! I will still be leaving in September, but will be going to a completely different set of countries with a different group of people! 
I will be traveling to Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Philippines, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. See my other blog to read more about these countries! -> http://sarahperrotto.theworldrace.org/?filename=so-what-the-world-race
I’m sure you’re wondering what made me decide to switch routes literally 3 days before leaving for training camp and before meeting my awesome team. Well. Yesterday, I got an email from the world race mobilizers letting us know that Sept Route 1 (my initial route) had too many participants which would make travel/housing accommodations difficult and that it was their hope that 10-12 people would willingly switch to route 4. After first reading the email, I thought “Absolutely not. I am comfortable with my route, I’ve started to build relationships with my teammates and it is just too late for that.” I had just put the World Race in a box, wanting it to meet my expectations. A few seconds later, I decided to at least prayerfully consider the option of switching routes because this is what they had asked us to do in the email. After praying for a few minutes, I knew that God was tugging at my heart and asking me to be obedient and switch routes. Again, my plans, comforts and expectations out the window. I continued to think about/pray about this for the rest of the afternoon until my World Race mobilizer called me back to finalize the switch. Instantly a sense of peace and joy came over me. I got so excited as I began to think about the countries I would be traveling to and the ministries I would be a part of in each of them. I am also very excited about this new route because a few of my teammates from Route 1 also switched over!! It is great to know that God had me build some of those relationships for a reason and He is allowing us to still spend the next 11 months together. I can’t wait to meet the other members of L squad at training camp in just 3 days!! In light of that, please be praying for training camp. Pray for the relationships we will be building with each other and that we will all be seeking God as we prepare for this awesome adventure He has called us to!
